New Script
by TellNearaToWrite
Summary: They need a replacement. Kiba knows a guy. And so, you are invited into the world of a band in its infancy.
1. Chapter 1

_This story consists of very short chapters, so no one complain about the chapters being too short . . ._**

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**Chapter 1: **

"That's it," a voice sighed, making Kiba Inuzuka look up from where he was unlacing his shoes. Shikamaru Nara made a small sighing sound from where he was lying flat on his back on a bed, his arms across his eyes to block out any light. He was still fully dressed, shoes included, as he'd either been too lazy or too tired to change.

"What's going on?" asked Kakashi Hatake as he entered the room. He was followed by Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, and Sakura Haruno. The pink haired girl shut the door behind herself and put her hands on her hips.

"How can you guys be so wiped out?" she asked disapprovingly. "And this is _every_ night, too!"

"Sakura! You're on stage for fifteen minutes, tops!" Kiba shouted in outrage. "A show's—what?! An hour and a half, two hours!" The brunette would have waved his hands to place emphasis on his words, had he not managed to tie knots around his fingers with his laces.

"That's just it!" Naruto Uzumaki broke in, having had been the one to begin the entire conversation. "It used to be different; we'd play a show, and we'd still be fine when it ended. But that was before Gaara quit the band." He drew in a breath now that he'd managed to spit that out. "I know I've said it before, but I mean it this time. I think we need to seriously consider finding someone to replace Gaara."

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_I have to admit, this is a very short chapter. For the most part, the rest are going to be about 2 or more pages long._


	2. Chapter 2

_Here you go . . .this one's a little longer. Well, a lot longer, anyway._**

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**Chapter 2:**

Naruto wasn't really sure why, but he always found himself running errands for everyone. Kiba wanted junk food, Shikamaru wanted a crossword puzzle that he would unfailingly be too lazy to complete, Ino wanted some make-up thing that he prayed he got right, Sakura wanted some female unmentionables which embarrassed him beyond words to have to carry around, and Kakashi wanted . . .he couldn't remember. Which meant that he should've made a list before he left. The blonde found it kind of ironic that Iruka was the one person who he wouldn't mind shopping for, and Iruka was the only person who wouldn't give him a list of anything to get. The older man always told him something about him being the designated shopper bring demeaning for him.

At any rate, he never went too far out of his way for everyone. It wasn't that he was a Shikamaru brand of lazy; he just knew it would be better for him to try to stay local than go out of his way, because a) he would go way overboard with his searching's, and b) people would complain if he were gone too long.

Usually, the little pharmacy in the middle of town was good enough, and on this specific day, it was. The blonde made his way down the familiar small aisles and picked out his required items, listening to the quiet music playing behind the checkout desk. The store was usually quiet and today was no exception.

He perked up his hearing as he approached the desk, as a familiar song had just come onto the radio. He'd sung it not twenty-four hours before, in the last show on a tour he'd been doing with his band. They still hadn't come to any real sort of fame, but they had come far from being just an opening act for other bands. Eventually, he hoped to make it—become a so-called rock star—but currently, he could settle for having a handful of faithful followers and hearing himself singing on the radio every now and then.

"You know, I'm glad that it's your shift right now," he commented as he placed his items on the counter.

"Why?" asked the bemused voice of his familiar cashier. The man deftly picked things up, scanning them and placing them in bags thoughtlessly.

For the life of him, Naruto couldn't remember this guys name; he never wore a nametag, so it made it kind of awkward to have a conversation with him. "Well, my friend kinda threatened me and made me get her some . . ._stuff_." The blonde indicated the small box that was being hidden away in a bag as he spoke. He pulled out a credit card and handed it over.

The guy shook his head slightly, brushing dark hair off his forehead as he ran the card though the scanner, then placed it down on the counter, as Naruto had wandered slightly, peeking at all the candy bars under the counter. The dark haired man impatiently tapped his fingers on the register, waiting for the machine to spit out the receipt. "I had a girlfriend once," he began. "She'd hit that time of the month and then there'd be hell to pay for no reason." He grimaced slightly, holding out the now-printed receipt for the blonde to take. "I swear she got enjoyment out of kicking my ass."

"Same with my friend." The blonde grinned, grabbing his bags before making his way to the door. He threw a friendly wave over his shoulder when he got there. "I'll probably be back later."

The cashier didn't get a chance to respond before Naruto closed the door behind himself. He quickly made his way through the sparsely populated parking lot, passing an old rusty car that looked like it was held together by duct tape and prayer. He opened the door to his van and climbed in tossing his purchases into the passengers seat. In all actuality, it was the bands van—it even had their name written across the side—and he wasn't supposed to drive it around when they weren't touring, but it happened to have been available when he left home today.

He lived in a massive house with everyone in the band. He feared to call it a mansion, but that was really what it was. It housed eight, formerly nine, people, none of whom shared rooms. Aside from the house standards of a kitchen, multiple bathrooms, dinning room, and living room, they actually had a home recording studio. It had set them back quite a bit financially—they still weren't too popular and still weren't raking in loads of money—but they all had the feeling that it was a good move forward. As of now, it was still unused, as they'd just gotten it together with the money they'd received from this last tour.

Naruto pulled into the long drive and parked the van, before grabbing the bags and climbing out. He was almost bowled over as soon as he got through the door by a massive shaggy white dog. It cowered behind him as Kiba came running into the hall.

"You!" he shouted, pointing at the blonde. "You took too long! It's already five-thirty! Now Ino won't let me eat until dinner!"

Ino served as the bands dietary manager and make-up artist. Naruto wouldn't fight with her if she were to ever claim that she had one of the most difficult jobs in the house. The blonde heaved a sigh, holding out the bag of chips and cookies he'd gotten for his brunette friend. "I won't tell her if you have any," he said.

"But I'll know," said Ino's voice as the blonde woman stalked down the stairs. She snatched the bag of junk food and peered into it with a hiss. "Honestly, Kiba. It's going to be hard for me to convince people that you're actually really hot if you eat yourself into morbid obesity. Naruto," she turned her eyes away from the bag, which seemed to have been confiscated, and indicated the other bags he carried. "I'll take everything else. It's just Shikamaru's crossword, my foundation, and Sakura's tampons, right?"

The blonde nodded, giving her the bags. "Didn't Kakashi want me to get him something?" he asked.

The woman shrugged, turning to walk passed a depressed looking Kiba. "Who cares what he wants?"

That was just the way everyone was. They were all really close, but when it came down to it, they were all who they were. Mostly, Kakashi was what he was; the band manager. Therefore, he spoke a lot and few people really absorbed what he said. It couldn't be helped.

Akamaru slunk passed him to go and hide from Kiba. The brunette had mentioned wanting to give the dog a bath, so Naruto could only assume that that was why he wanted to hide. The blonde dropped his keys onto the table by the door, then went for the credit card he always stuck in his back pocket. He groped around for a moment and his hand came out empty.

Kiba saw his face fall from across the hall. "What's wrong?" he asked, approaching him.

"I lost my credit card," he said flatly as the information sank in, leaving him to a (not so) pleasant sinking feeling of panic. "Fuck."

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_Anyone have any guesses where this is going? Reviews are highly appreciated!!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Wow, long time, no? Well, is now officially blocked on all of my schools computers, and I have taken up an interest in my original writings. Point being: I haven't really had reason to write much for my fanfics. Even if I had, I wouldn't be able to post anything._

_I thought it would be a good idea to just post everything that is completed that I have, so here it goes. This way, when I do continue writing over here, I can just have a fresh start with some of my old ideas.  
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Chapter 3:**

The blonde had spent a few minutes panicking, before Kiba convinced him to backtrack. So, the two of them got into the van and drove back to the pharmacy. In the fading light, Naruto scoured the parking lot, with no luck. He noted that the old rust-bucket car from earlier had disappeared from the parking lot and prayed that its owner hadn't found his card. The owner clearly needed more money, and a credit card lying on the ground with no strings attached would be highly inviting.

He pushed through the door to the pharmacy, the bells overhead jingling familiarly. In one glance, any hope he had was crushed; his cashier wasn't there anymore. "It's no use," he groaned.

Kiba rolled his eyes and pushed passed him. "Shut up and stop complaining. I know you don't give up easy over stupid things, so why should this be any different?" The brunette approached the checkout desk and leaned against it, catching the attention of the woman behind it now. "Hey, hun," he began. "My friend lost his credit card earlier today. Do you know if anyone found it?"

The woman shook her head slightly and Naruto stepped up. "Uh, the guy who was here on the last shift, I guess. Where is he? If anyone has it, he should."

"He said someone was probably going to come in asking for him," she answered helpfully.

"Where is he?" Kiba asked excitedly; they seemed to be making some progress now.

"Well, he's off right now. He'll be back sometime next week. Hmmm . . ." she tapped a painted fingernail on her chin in thought. "He supposedly has another job he goes to after this, but I can't remember where it is."

Naruto grimaced. "Thanks." He gestured at Kiba. "Let's go." He walked to the door, closely followed by the brunette, and left. He got into the van quietly, and Kiba shut his door. After a moment of awkward silence, he grabbed at his hair and let out a wordless shout. "This sucks!" he announced. "How the hell am I supposed to find a guy when I don't even know his name?!" He breathed deeply for a moment, recovering.

"You done?" Kiba asked, turning the key in the ignition.

"Yeah," Naruto answered dejectedly. After a moment, he glanced up at Kiba. "I can terminate my card, right?"

"Of course."

Naruto nodded in a _that's good_ kind of way, eyeing the streets that Kiba was taking. "Where are we going?" he asked after a few minutes.

"A bar," Kiba announced matter-of-factly. "I think you need a drink." The blonde didn't argue, so the brunette continued energetically. "I used to play there with Sakura and Sasuke; we were just this little three-piece band. Honestly, it was mostly Sasuke, with the two of us as these really minor accompaniments."

"Is this another one of those stories about your best high school buddy again?" Naruto asked with a slightly annoyed sigh, to which the brunette frowned and wisely stopped speaking.

Kiba had talked about his friend Sasuke for as long as Naruto could remember. According to him, this nearly mythical person was quite possibly the _best_ out there in the musical department; he sang, he played, he wrote, he performed, he looked good, _and_ people loved him.

Despite wanting to believe Kiba, Naruto had always been skeptical. Kiba always talked about him like they had been extremely close friends. If that was true, how come the blonde hadn't met him in the last five years? Also, why did Sakura always roll her eyes, look pissed off, and then walk away whenever Kiba mentioned the guy?

"I like being over twenty-one," Naruto finally said, feeling guilty for cutting his friends story short. "It means I can drink without getting in trouble."

"Amen to that," Kiba agreed with a grin. "We're here. I'll go find a place to park; you go in and order some beers."

The blonde didn't need to be prompted twice. He pushed open his door and jumped out to make his way to what was obviously the bar Kiba had been talking about; a neon sign in the window read _LIVE MUSIC_, so he was pretty sure of himself. He saw the hulking form of a rusty old car and frowned. He wasn't positive, but it looked like the thing that had been in the parking lot earlier that morning.

The second he opened the door, he was hit with the sounds of loud laughter and the smell of all forms of liqueur—but no music. That was kind of disappointing; he was still looking out for someone to fill Gaara's currently vacant space in the band. He found his way through the murky room and sat down at the bar, calling for two beers. When he got them, he sat there stewing as he sipped from his.

"Can I help?" asked the barkeeper. Naruto glanced up and shrugged. He wasn't sure why barkeepers always wound up being nice people. Sometimes, he thought they could be more helpful than psychiatrists.

"Not unless you can make lost credit cards reappear," he answered bitterly, to which the man lifted a bemused eyebrow. "Never mind," the blonde said, waving a hand slightly. "So, no one's playing tonight?" he asked, gesturing toward the back where a small platform was located.

"Oh, we did have some music earlier. We've been holding a talent contest for the last few weeks; had our finals tonight." He tilted his head down the bar toward a crowd of people. "Our winner was this guy who's been playin in here since he was a kid. He's prob'lly drunk as a skunk now, but I could rustle him up if you wanted. He wouldn't mind playin again, I reckon."

"Nah," Naruto began. "You don't have to—"

"Naruto! Naruto!" an excitable voice shouted, disturbing several patrons. Kiba appeared at the blondes side, and clutched at his arm, panting. "He's _here_!"

"What?" he asked in confusion. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the barkeeper making his way down the bar, snatching a set of keys from someone. He started slightly and wheeled around to stare at the person who'd just been robbed of their keys. "It's him!" he hissed, not sure if he was angry or really happy. Kiba was stunned and let his eyes travel to where he was staring.

"No," was the barkeepers strong reprimand as a drunken raven haired man snatched at his keys haphazardly, nearly losing his precarious balance and falling away from the bar. "I'll call you a cab. You might feel like a winner now, but you won't when you wrap your car around a telephone pole."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: **

"But . . ." the raven simpered, swaying.

"No buts," was the barkeepers stern response. He turned away to a cabinet and locked the keys away, out of the ravens reach and the reach of anyone else who could possibly want to steal them. "Go make sure you packed up that guitar of yours and then sit there and sober up a bit while you wait."

The man pouted, slipping sideways off the bar. He folded his arms childishly across his chest and then promptly made a face. "I f'l sick . . ." he informed.

The barkeeper shook his head and turned down the bar to face Naruto and Kiba. "One of you take him to the bathroom. Make sure he doesn't lose his lunch on the way." He started to turn away to help another customer when he stopped, turning back to make a final note. "If he does, make him clean it. He knows where the mop is."

Kiba had latched onto the ravens arm almost before the barkeeper had left. "Why are you such a fucking drunk?" he asked.

The man looked at him in utter bewilderment. "I on . . .ly h'd . . .one beer," he managed to get out as he was jostled about.

"Of course," Kiba growled, pulling him toward the back. "You're such liar."

The raven didn't fight the brunette, letting him pull him towards the bathroom. "'m not sick anymore," he murmured.

"You aren't?" Kiba asked, slowing to a stop. Naruto watched, faintly amused at his friends antics. The raven haired man shook his head and staggered sideways into Kiba. He turned toward blonde and after a moment his dark eyes lit up. "I—I had s'methin' for you!" he exclaimed.

Naruto sighed in relief. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that."

The raven grinned happily. The expression slipped away after a brief moment, and he reached up to press the heels of his palms into his eyes. "I n'd to lay d'wn . . ." he mumbled, swaying again.

"Yeah, I bet!" Kiba huffed. "You're sure you aren't going to puke, right?" The man nodded in answer. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do; I'm gonna leave you with this guy while I go and get your stuff. His name is Naruto. He'll be nice to you." Kiba led the raven toward the blonde without waiting for an answer from either of them. "Don't let him out of your sight," he warned before moving away, toward the little platform stage.

"Hi," the raven breathed fuzzily, clutching at Naruto's arm. He mulled over his thoughts for a moment. "Kiba's nice to me," he finally said, nodding his head ever so slightly. Evidently, he recalled that nodding too much had nearly made him fall over before.

"How long have you known him?" Naruto asked curiously. After watching Kiba's antics, he had the tinniest inkling as to who this was, but he wanted very much to hear Kiba confirm it.

"Mmm . . .s'methin' . . .long time . . ."

The blonde noted the decrease in intelligibility of the ravens speech, and was relieved when Kiba reappeared moments later. The brunette had a guitar case in one hand and was gesturing toward the door with his other. "Let's move your drunk ass," he said, amused when the raven jumped and stared at him.

"W . . .where?" the raven asked, trying to follow Kiba. He only managed to succeed when Naruto took his arm and held him steady in his stumbling.

"My house. We'll take you home with us." Kiba paused at the door, watching as Naruto helped the raven through. "I'm always afraid to leave him alone when he's like this," he told the blonde. "Anything could happen to him."

"You two are close?" Naruto asked. The raven shrugged him off, the colder air from outside apparently sharpening his senses just enough to allow him to walk in some semblance of a crooked line.

Kiba just frowned, declining to answer for the moment. He took point and led the blonde and the raven down the street to where he'd parked the van. When they got there, both Naruto and Kiba had to work together to convince the raven to get into it. Kiba started the engine and Naruto looked into the back, where the raven had curled up comfortably on one of the seats.

"At least he had the decency to pass out once he was in the car," Kiba said with a snort. "I like it when he does that. He can't sing in tune when he's drunk, and if he doesn't pass out, he sings. He blackout writes, though, which is always good. A lot of my favourite songs are ones he's written when he's blacking out."

Naruto studied the ravens face for a moment. He felt like his inkling was pretty close. The only thing that didn't add up in his mind was the idea that this person, if they were who he thought they were, would be a cashier working at a drugstore in the middle of nowhere. That didn't quite make any sense. "So, Kiba," the blonde started. "Is this, um, is this . . ._him_?"

The brunette pursed his lips and glanced into his rearview mirror, where he got just the briefest view of the raven sleeping in the back seat. "Yup," he said with a nod. "You just met Sasuke."

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_Read and review? Thanks! And don't just ask for more soon . . .I don't want to sound mean or ungrateful, or whatever, but I really won't be writing anything more over here for a while._


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey! I wrote something!__ I bet you're shocked! I had maybe the first five or so paragraphs of this written way back when I last posted this story, and I just had a sudden urge to write more on it._

_Important note: I am back. Kind of. I'm going for my sophomore year of college, and have decided I need to start writing whatever I can, whenever I can. So, fanfics are amongst the things I need to write._

_Enjoy!_**  
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**Chapter 5:**

Naruto was very used to being the first person awake every morning. He had a routine; wake up, make coffee, drink the coffee, wait in the kitchen for everyone else to get up.

The blonde shuffled down the hall, down the stairs, and then made his way to the kitchen. He paused in the doorway, the scent of already-made coffee tickling his nose and making his stomach growl. "Huh," he said. He moved across the room and poured himself a cup. He put in a copious amount of sugar and a splash of milk, and then began searching the house.

He'd only gone as far as the living room before he found his early rising job stealer. "Morning," he greeted, sipping from his mug.

Sasuke straightened from where he'd been inspecting guitars. Half of the living room was used for band practice, so the room contained everything they used. "Nice," the raven said, tilting his head toward the instruments.

"You have a guitar, so I assume you play a little," Naruto said. He took a few steps more into the room to stand beside the other man, joining him in his instrument appreciation.

"I play a little of everything," the raven said. "Guitar, drums, bass . . .piano. Honestly, give me anything and I'll make you music."

Just by the way he said it, the blonde had the feeling that the raven wasn't exaggerating. He wasn't boasting, either; he was just telling a simple truth. "You're really as good as Kiba says you are?" he asked finally.

The raven shrugged almost guiltily. "I try."

Naruto chuckled slightly, gesturing toward the kitchen. "Come on, I'll show you around, if you want." When the other male nodded, the blonde led him into the kitchen. "Not too hung over?"

"Ehh, I'll live," the raven murmured. "I've felt worse."

As Naruto toured the raven around the house, he tried to ask him questions, which he seemed more than willing to answer. To the blonde, this was rather odd. He _knew_ the other man; had known him for almost a year. Or, well. They'd talked with one another for almost a year, as the other had been his favourite cashier for that long. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he'd known _Sasuke_, this person he'd heard of for so long, and not even known it. When they'd gotten back to the kitchen, in time for them to each grab a second cup of coffee, Naruto voiced his disbelief. "Kiba's been talking about you forever," he began.

"Hn," the ravens dark eyes flickered toward the blonde before peering back into his coffee mug. "I'm surprised he didn't show you photo albums and drill you on what I looked like."

"I guess he wasn't that fanatical," Naruto chuckled. "But like…a year? And you were sitting under all of our noses."

"It's not like I was exactly hiding," Sasuke said, taking a sip. He leaned against the counter, resting his elbows on the surface. He rubbed his face with one hand tiredly.

"My credit card," the blonde said, derailing the conversation that could have ensued.

"Your what?" The raven looked troubled as he racked his brain.

"My credit card. I left it in the store, and you said you had it…?" Naruto looked hopeful, though his face fell slightly when he continued. "Though you really just said you had something for me, not that you had _it_."

Sasuke still looked confused, as if he couldn't recall what the blonde was talking about, but he shrugged. "It'd be in my car—no. My guitar case. Can't lose anything in there."

"_Sasuke_!" Kiba's voice shrieked from the door to the kitchen. The raven started, fingers clenching in the hair he'd been fidgeting with. "You didn't leave!"

"No," the male agreed. "How would I have left? I have no idea where I am. And my car…" he trailed off, the confused expression crossing his face again. "Where's my car?"

"That piece of shit?" the brunette asked. He sat at the counter beside Naruto. "At the bar still. You could've called a cab home from here."

Sasuke snorted, fingers untangling from his hair and just resting against his cheek as he leaned against the counter. "Yeah, right…" At Kiba's frown, he continued. "I work two jobs and play for tips to keep my apartment. I don't have anything to spare for a cab."

"What?" the brunette asked in confusion. "Doesn't 'Tachi give you money?"

Naruto noted a slight hardening of the raven's eyes. "Itachi died three years ago, Kiba. All the money dried up with him."

"_What_?" Sasuke flinched away from the males shout. "_How_?"

"Same way our mother died," the raven cast a look in Naruto's direction. "Cancer," he clarified, for the blondes sake.

"Oh," he said softly, not sure how he should respond.

"Fuck me," Kiba murmured. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea. You guys just all kinda stopped talking to me after your mother…" he trailed off, but what he meant was obvious to the other two men.

"Yeah, well," Sasuke shrugged lightly.

"Yeah, you took off," Kiba filled in, turning to Naruto. "He sold a shit ton of his stuff, and then just took off. I talked to Itachi every once in a while after, and he told me Sasuke had gone east somewhere." The brunette turned toward the raven. "He never even looked sick."

"Neither did mom," Sasuke murmured. "Looks like I'm the healthiest Uchiha, huh?" he sounded bitter, and thus turned back to his coffee, knocking back the cup as though he wished it were alcohol.

"Kiba, I swear to God," came Sakura's hushed voice in the hall. "It's too early for you to be screaming. _Everyone_ is asleep still, you—" her rant stopped short as she entered the kitchen. She stared. "Sasuke…?" The raven gave another start, straightening up to give her a surprised look of his own.

"Oh, this won't be good…" Kiba whispered.

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_Chapters will continue to be rather short in this story, but that's just what this story calls for. Now...I just need to remember how I get to the end. I remember the last scene of the story vividly, but how I got there...that's something I need to refigure out._

_Read and review?_


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